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Less than half of Americans trust Facebook (FB) to obey U.S. privacy laws, according to a Reuters, citing a Reuters/Ipsos poll illustrating the challenge facing the social media network after a scandal over its handling of personal information. The poll also found that fewer Americans trust Facebook than other tech companies that gather user data, such as Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOGL, GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), or Microsoft (MSFT), the report added. Reference Link

RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney keeps his Outperform rating and $250 price target on Facebook amid the pullback in the stock, saying he would recommend buying into the weakness while maintaining that the company is still the "Best Growth Story in Tech". Mahaney cites an "almost unanimous" opinion from executives at technology companies and consumer internet companies that the latest data controversies would have no material impact on the relevance and attractiveness of Facebook's marketing platform. That being said, Mahaney also warns that user and engagement growth could suffer in Q1-Q2 amid the negative media attention brought on the company. Still, the analyst believes that at $170 price point, Facebook is trading at a valuation trough, and the medium-to-long term risk-reward on the stock is "downright compelling".

03/23/18

WEDB

03/23/18NO CHANGETarget $260WEDBOutperform

Facebook to weather controversy surrounding data breach, says Wedbush

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter expects Facebook to weather the controversy surrounding its Cambridge Analytica data breach, and to continue to invest in various initiatives, with the majority, if not all, of those initiatives generating substantial EBITDA growth in years to come. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating and $260 price target on the shares.

Argus analyst Joseph Bonner writes that the headline risk for Facebook has increased amid revelations of the Russian government using the platform to influence U.S. elections and the latest Cambridge Analytica data management scandal. Bonner adds that the scandals have led to the recent stock price sell off and may still lead to "material regulatory action" against the company which will hurt user growth over time and pose "the most serious risk". Having said that, the analyst maintains his Buy rating and $237 price target on Facebook, stating that the company's operational results have remained strong while forecasting a long-term earnings growth rate of 24% and a 22% average EPS growth over the next two years.

03/22/18

BOFA

03/22/18NO CHANGETarget $230BOFABuy

Facebook price target lowered to $230 from $265 at BofA/Merrill

BofA/Merrill analyst Justin Post lowered his price target on Facebook to $230 and kept his Buy rating in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data management scandal. Post states that Facebook CEO Zuckerberg made a "reasonable" statement to the media in response, acknowledging the company's responsibility in protecting user data, disclosing fixes that have been in place for years, and promising to make additional changes. However, the analyst contends that some near term impact on platform usage can be expected, and the most recent vocal critics of the breach will not be appeased. While not aware of any advertisers publicly disclosing intentions of reduced spending on Facebook marketing, Post points to the "onslaught" of negative headlines and a trending #deleteFacebook hashtag.

AAPLApple

$164.94

-3.91 (-2.32%)

03/20/18

GABE

03/20/18UPGRADEGABEBuy

Universal Display upgraded to Buy from Hold at Gabelli

Gabelli analyst Hendi Susanto upgraded Universal Display (OLED) to Buy from Hold, as he views the negative market response to a Bloomberg report that Apple (AAPL) is designing and producing MicroLED display prototypes as an overreaction and a buying opportunity. He believes that it is premature to have conviction that MicroLED, which Apple is working on, has reached a stage where it will be a formidable competing display technology to organic LEDs, or OLED, and active matrix OLED, or AMOLED, displays.

03/22/18

MSCO

03/22/18NO CHANGETarget $203MSCOOverweight

Morgan Stanley disputes view best days behind Apple, citing power of Services

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said some investors fear Apple's best days are behind it, though she disagrees with that view. She sees the company still generating mid single digit revenue growth through monetization of its Services business, noting that in her updated base case model Services and Other Products/Wearables are responsible for almost all of Apple's growth over the next five years. A mix shift to services should also help gross margin, added Huberty, who sees Apple's revenue CAGR slowing in the next five years to 6% from 8% but its EPS CAGR accelerating to 16% from 8%. She maintains an Overweight rating and $203 price target on Apple shares.

03/22/18

LEHM

03/22/18NO CHANGELEHM

Facebook, Twitter MAUs could drop on European regulation, says Barclays

Barclays analyst Ross Sandler says his recent checks indicate Europe's General Data Protection Regulation could be "slightly more problematic than Facebook (FB) implied in recent commentary." The analyst sees risk that reported monthly active users could drop off for Facebook and Twitter (TWTR) starting in late Q2. He adds, however, that daily active users are "far more important and less of a GDPR concern for the social networks." Daily users may also drop off a bit, Sandler adds. The analyst sees less of impact on ad revenue. Further, his checks suggest that most companies using cookies and tags for digital marketing should be relatively unchanged as most publishers have been using GDPR compliant notifications for months ahead of the May mandate. Beyond GDPR, Sandler thinks ePrivacy regulation, slated for 2020 and beyond, may be even more problematic for the social media group, and "accrue more control" to Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and Apple (AAPL).

03/23/18

BOFA

03/23/18NO CHANGETarget $220BOFABuy

Tariff retaliation risk low for Apple, says BofA/Merrill

BofA/Merrill analyst Wamsi Mohan expects three new Apple iPhone models to be released in the fall including a new 6.5" OLED iPhone XS plus, an updated 5.8" OLED iPhone XS and a new 6.1" edge to edge LCD model. Given that a substantial amount of iPhone and other electronics manufacturing is done in China, the analyst does not see this as a particular area of retaliation from a trade context. Mohan reiterates a Buy rating and $220 price target on the shares given multi-year revenue and gross profit dollar growth and strong capital return.

GOOGAlphabet

$1,021.57

-27.51 (-2.62%)

03/21/18

ARGS

03/21/18NO CHANGETarget $61ARGSBuy

Oracle's soft Q4 cloud revenue view spooked the market, says Argus

Argus analyst Joseph Bonner writes that while Oracle (ORCL) posted a beat on Q3 earnings and revenue, along with a "remarkable" margin expansion, investors were spooked by lower than expected outlook for cloud revenue growth in Q4. The analyst contends that the company's key task is conversion of its blue-chip customer base to the cloud, as cloud computing becomes a standard in the next 3-5 years. Bonner adds that Oracle is also competing with "deep-pocketed" technology giants - Amazon (AMZN) Web Services, Microsoft's (MSFT) Azure, and Google (GOOG). The analyst remains positive on Oracle's prospects with a Buy rating and a $61 price target, pointing to the company's strong dividend growth, share buyback program, and below-peer valuation metrics.

Citing a recent research into the digital advertising channel, Cleveland Research analyst Kevin Rottinghaus says that Facebook (FB) pricing continues to increase, justified by a continued improvement in ROI, and the social media platform appears to be opening more inventory on Instagram and Messenger. Meanwhile, the analyst says Twitter (TWTR) continues to improve in ad technology, advertiser/partner engagement, traffic and users, and the company is seeing some signs that ad dollars are coming back into the platform. Snap, on the other hand, is still seeing limited ad dollars to the platform as ROI and ad tech lag, with app redesign receiving cautious feedback, he contends. The analyst also pointed out that Amazon (AMZN) is viewed as taking incremental dollars otherwise likely to paid search and Google (GOOG; GOOGL), while remaining aggressive in expanding ad tech and sales channels.

03/20/18

MSCO

03/20/18NO CHANGETarget $230MSCOOverweight

Morgan Stanley answers 'top 4 investor questions' about Facebook

Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak identified the top four questions he's heard from Facebook investors and outlined his answers in a new note. Addressing "What should Facebook do?", Nowak's take is that the company should become more assertive about the mistakes it has made and how it intends to fix them. On the question of "regulatory risk," he does believe the Cambridge Analytica news has increased Facebook's risk, which he contends only furthers the impetus to begin to take control of the public message, self-regulate and improve safeguards. On the question of "fundamental risk," Nowak said he does not see a fundamental risk to revenue or EPS as of now and he is not changing his FY18 and FY19 forecasts, though he adds that the "drumbeat of negative news and headlines" increases the risk that there is some user backlash and an "eventual" advertiser backlash. On the question of whether Facebook's multiple has bottomed, Nowak said "Yes, but this isn't new," as he noted that its multiple makes the stock cheaper than Alphabet (GOOGL), eBay (EBAY) and "many other assets" that are growing more slowly and/or don't have as much long-term monetization potential. Nowak maintains his Overweight rating and $230 price target on Facebook shares.

GOOGLAlphabet Class A

$1,026.55

-26.6 (-2.53%)

03/19/18

JPMS

03/19/18NO CHANGETarget $340JPMSOverweight

Broadcom shipping volumes of Google's TPU2 AI chipset, says JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur believes Broadcom (AVGO) has started shipping production volumes of Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) TPU2 AI chipset to Google's datacenters and that 2018 will be the year that artificial intelligence starts to become a bigger part of Broadcom's wired business. He estimates the company's Application-specific Integrated Circuits revenue in the artificial intelligence/deep learning segment, with customers that include Google, Fujitsu and Intel (INTC), can reach $1B-$2B by 2020, from less than $100M today. The ASIC opportunity "represents another growth/diversification vector for Broadcom," Sur tells investors in a research note. He reiterates an Overweight rating on the shares with a $340 price target.

Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh spent time reviewing Amazon's physical grocery efforts including visiting three store types, namely Whole Foods location with Amazon Prime Now, Amazon Fresh grocery pickup, and Amazon Go. The analyst believes the Whole Foods/Amazon Prime Now offering with "free" delivery for Prime members represents potentially the most concerning development as its will be difficult for grocers to match.

03/23/18

JPMS

03/23/18NO CHANGETarget $1650JPMSOverweight

Smart home a 'significant' growth opportunity for Amazon, says JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth believes the smart home category represents a "significant" growth opportunity for Amazon.com, with 29M connected homes in the U.S. The analyst estimates Amazon's smart home total addressable market is $50B-plus in the U.S. Beyond its size, the smart home is a strategically important category as it provides Amazon with an "in-home presence, greater access to data, and the potential to drive more shopping in other categories through Echo devices/Alexa," Anmuth tells investors in his weekly research note looking into the company's "innovative and disruptive investment areas." The analyst keeps an Overweight rating on Amazon with a $1,650 price target.

MSFTMicrosoft

$87.18

-2.61 (-2.91%)

03/09/18

PIPR

03/09/18NO CHANGETarget $134PIPROverweight

Proofpoint price target raised to $134 from $123 at Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray analyst Andrew Nowinski raised his price target for Proofpoint (PFPT) to $134 after hosting investor meetings with CEO Gary Steele. The analyst believes the guidance management provided for Wombat in 2018 is likely conservative. Microsoft (MSFT) seems to be less focused on the security value of its E5 solution, which should result in continued market share gains for Proofpoint, Nowinski tells investors in a research note. The analyst reiterates an Overweight rating on Proofpoint shares.

03/12/18

DBAB

03/12/18NO CHANGETarget $120DBABBuy

Microsoft price target raised to $120 from $115 at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Karl Keirstead raised his price target for Microsoft to $120 after hosting a group of investors in Seattle at the company's headquarters. The tone around the "huge" Office and Server Product segments as well as the emerging Azure business is improving, Keirstead tells investors in a research note. The analyst also sees signs of accelerating overall IT spending growth. He keeps a Buy rating on Microsoft shares.

03/20/18

STFL

03/20/18DOWNGRADETarget $53STFLHold

Stifel finds Oracle results 'concerning,' downgrades shares to Hold

Stifel analyst Brad Reback downgraded Oracle (ORCL) to Hold from Buy following last night's Q3 earnings report. The company's sales results were again "mixed" with cloud revenue near the lower end of constant currency guidance, Reback tells investors in a research note partially titled "Where's The Beef?" He notes Oracle's Q4 cloud and total revenue guidance missed consensus expectations. The analyst finds the results and outlook "concerning," especially when considering the strong results posted by peers like Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM) and Adobe (ADBE). Reback has a $53 price target for Oracle shares. The stock in premarket trading is down 8% to $47.70.